Croatia

Croatia is a country in both Central Europe and Southern Europe, with a capital of Zagreb. The country is located along the Adriatic Sea, having more than one thousand islands along the Dalmatian coastline. Croatia was first a principality, the Principality of Pannonian Croatia, but Tomislav of Croatia elevated Croatia to the "Kingdom of Croatia" in 925, and it would remain an independent kingdom until it entered into a personal union with Hungary in 1102. Croatia would become a part of the Austrian Empire in 1527 when they elected the Habsburg dynasty to lead them against the Ottoman Empire, and it would remain under Austrian control for almost 400 more years, becoming a part of Yugoslavia in 1918 at the end of World War I. Croatia briefly obtained independence under the Ustase fascists during World War II from 1941 to 1945, but it was forced to rejoin Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. After a rough war of independence, Croatia established its borders, and Croatia has since joined NATO, the United Nations, the European Union, and other intergovernmental bodies. In 2011, Croatia had a population of 4,284,889 people, with most of the population consisting of Catholic Croats.